Phone Photography Five DON'TS

May 11, 2017

One the things that consumers consider when buying a smartphone is the quality of camera, especially if they are fond of taking pictures. Megapixels matter. But, no matter how high the megapixels are, if someone doesn’t know how to use his or her smartphone camera efficiently, there is still more that can be done to have stunning photos.

Part of learning how to capture amazing pictures with our smartphones is not only focusing on WHAT WE NEED TO DO, but we should also know some things that WE NEED TO AVOID.

Don’t worry because we’ll go over a few things you need to refrain from doing when capturing beautiful memories with your smartphone!

1 DON’T ZOOM IN.

Using the zoom on your subject is not advisable. If we really want to capture an eye-catching photo, it should always appear clear, natural and bright. Unfortunately, using digital zoom lowers the quality of a picture. Since the zoom is being applied digitally, it usually comes out blurry and pixelated. That’s why using this feature is a big NO-NO! It is the same as digital cropping. Consider choosing a subject near you instead, or why not take the effort to get closer to the subject you are aiming. These are better alternatives to maintain your picture quality.

2 DON’T USE FLASH.

A flash produces strong directional light but, too much light is not always good, especially when taking pictures with our smartphones. Natural lighting is usually a better option if we really want our pictures to appear vivid and authentic. Using the flash can create harsh shadows in your subject, or it can even cause the dreaded red-eye effect when taking pictures of people. Using a flash could also overpower the natural lighting, creating unwanted shadows and giving an unnatural look. Take advantage of places with bright lighting so you don’t have to use the flash. A well-lit place is a better alternative to have nice lighting for your photos.

Without flash

With flash

3 DON’T USE FILTERS.

Editing pictures can help to enhance the photos, but adding filters can degrade the quality or even look unnatural. Filters provide a quick and easy way to add certain looks to your photos, but often times, filters only work well with certain images.

We definitely want our pictures to appear genuine and stunning. Two of the best free editing applications for phone photography are SNAPSEED and CYMERA. They are both available in the Apple App and Google Play stores. They give you different options to edit your photos, so you can enhance your pictures in detail.

Without filter

With “vintage” filter

4 DON’T USE THE FRONT CAMERA.

Using the front camera is usually not a good option when taking scenic or nature photos due to the lower quality camera and lower megapixel count. The quality will never be as good as the rear facing camera. Nevertheless, the front camera is best for capturing selfies if you have good natural lighting.

5 DON’T RUSH.

The most important thing with taking beautiful photos with your smartphones is the timing! Lucky for us phone cameras have auto-focus, which makes it easier for us to capture pictures with less effort, but it takes good timing to do so. As cliche as it sounds, all things that are worth waiting for to have the best results. The same goes with taking pictures, especially with mobile photography. Wait for the perfect moment to appear and TADA! You now have a picture-perfect photo.

Avoiding these things is vital in taking pictures with our smartphones. The quality and beauty of your photos will be improved tremendously! It’s essential that we know what to do and what to avoid when capturing photos. They are the basics, but they play an integral part in photography!